Wedbush Reaffirms “Outperform” Rating for Salesforce (NYSE:CRM)

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reissued by research analysts at Wedbush in a research report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $425.00 target price on the CRM provider’s stock. Wedbush’s target price indicates a potential upside of 26.40% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on shares of Salesforce from $234.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Salesforce from $330.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $375.00 price target on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Wednesday. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Salesforce from $368.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of Salesforce from $415.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $378.86.

Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CRM opened at $336.23 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $321.77 billion, a PE ratio of 55.30, a PEG ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $322.03 and its 200-day moving average price is $278.26. Salesforce has a twelve month low of $212.00 and a twelve month high of $369.00.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, December 3rd. The CRM provider reported $2.41 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by ($0.03). Salesforce had a return on equity of 12.34% and a net margin of 15.96%. The company had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.35 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.62 earnings per share. Salesforce’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Salesforce will post 7.48 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, insider Miguel Milano sold 719 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $342.81, for a total transaction of $246,480.39. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 4,659 shares in the company, valued at $1,597,151.79. This represents a 13.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Brian Millham sold 5,735 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $266.22, for a total value of $1,526,771.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 1,663 shares in the company, valued at approximately $442,723.86. This represents a 77.52 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 134,298 shares of company stock valued at $39,903,781. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Independent Solutions Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Salesforce by 7.3% during the 3rd quarter. Independent Solutions Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,140 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $586,000 after buying an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Wealth Management LLC MS bought a new position in shares of Salesforce during the third quarter valued at about $210,000. Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 28.0% during the third quarter. Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,274 shares of the CRM provider’s stock worth $898,000 after purchasing an additional 717 shares during the period. Copley Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the third quarter worth about $463,000. Finally, Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas bought a new stake in shares of Salesforce in the third quarter worth about $15,894,000. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

Salesforce Company Profile

Salesforce, Inc provides Customer Relationship Management (CRM) technology that brings companies and customers together worldwide. The company's service includes sales to store data, monitor leads and progress, forecast opportunities, gain insights through analytics and artificial intelligence, and deliver quotes, contracts, and invoices; and service that enables companies to deliver trusted and highly personalized customer support at scale.